It was a somber bus ride back to Washington for the Georgetown Hoyas early Sunday morning, with little conversation about the Big East tournament championship that had slipped away in the last four seconds of four consecutive days of tremendous basketball.

By 6 p.m., the Hoyas were all smiles once again, looking on at an oversize TV screen as CBS announcers unveiled Georgetown as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tournament and, with it, laid out the Hoyas' potential path to the Final Four.

Georgetown (23-10) will face 14th-seeded Ohio University (21-14), the unlikely champions of the Mid-American Conference in a first-round game in Providence, R.I., on Thursday.

With a victory, the Hoyas would play the winner of No. 6 Tennessee and No. 11 San Diego State on Saturday before potentially advancing to a Sweet 16 matchup with No. 2 seed Ohio State, which beat Georgetown in the 2007 Final Four.

Big 12 champion Kansas earned the No. 1 overall seed. Assigned to the Midwest, the Jayhawks would likely stand in the way of a trip for the Hoyas to the Final Four this year.

But after the extreme highs and lows of Georgetown's run in the Big East tournament -- not to mention the highs and lows of the past two seasons -- sophomore center Greg Monroe was simply thrilled to know he'd be making his first appearance in an NCAA tournament.

Georgetown missed out on a bid last year and lost in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

"I'm ready," said Monroe, named to the Big East's all-tournament team, along with Chris Wright. "I mean, to me, it's a year late, so I've been waiting for this chance. I'm very excited."

Georgetown was one of eight Big East schools to receive NCAA bids, slotted about where most of the Hoyas said they expected.

Syracuse joined Kentucky and Duke as the remaining No. 1 seeds and was sent to the West Region.

West Virginia, which edged Georgetown for the Big East championship Saturday, 60-58, on Da'Sean Butler's jumper with four seconds remaining, received a No. 2 seed. Villanova was also slotted as a No. 2 seed despite a late-season slump.

Pittsburgh joined Georgetown as a No. 3 seed. Notre Dame and Marquette received No. 6 seeds.